2022 has been yet another dumpster fire in a long line of dumpster fires, but hey at least some good music dropped. Vince Staples really made a classic with Ramona Park Broke My Heart, and Flawless Like Me was in constant rotation from the minute it dropped. A Geek Pack here and an E The Profit mixtape there make positive additions to the batch. Emotional Trap was a breath of fresh air, but Mangalica Mink rounded out the year in a pristine manner as well. Though the great thing about music is a simple fact you can listen to whatever you really enjoy. And everyone else’s opinion including mine doesn’t mean shit. Be well, be safe, make good decisions and don’t be a dickhead. Sincerely, Brick.
RPBMH – Vince Staples
Flawless Like Me – Lucki
2 Effortless – E The Profit
Emotional Trap – She Loves Boon
Mangalica Mink – Blvck Svm
HM: TiaCorine’s I Can’t Wait, and Saekyi’s Angels Don’t Call Me.
- Joey
Yes, I know I’m from Florida, but it doesn’t take away from the fact that this state is one the most prolific areas in terms of rap in the entire nation. With that being said, I think the best album of 2022 was by far Boston Richey‘s Public Housing. A close second for me has to be LUCKI‘s album, Flawless Like Me, which was his most streamed album of all-time streaming 25k units in the first week (from an artist that has one of the best catalogs in the game). Not to be forgotten though, Hotboii, Destroy Lonely and Rod Wave all had amazing albums this year as well. With 2023 24 hours away, we look forward to covering the culture once again and creating this post again at the end of 2023. Love y’all! Peace, Joey.
Boston Richey – Public Housing
Hotboii – Blinded by Death
Destroy Lonely – No Stylist
Rod Wave – Beautiful Mind
LUCKI – Flwaless Like Me
HM: Brent’s WASTELAND.
- Eren
Another year has come and gone, and you better believe that in that single year I’ve probably listened to more music than you have in your entire life. I always have a hard time when it comes to our end-of-the-year rankings because I find myself going through different musical phases throughout the year. I also have the shortest attention span known to mankind, and with so many albums coming out every week, it’s hard for me to put together a solid list of what I’ve been bumping on a consistent rotation. Nevertheless, I do have a few top projects that I found myself going back to over and over again this year.
It’s Almost Dry – Pusha T
2 Alive – Yeat
Virtuous – Iayze
Livin Like That – Highway2009
Flawless Like Me – Lucki
- Josh
I can’t even begin to describe how thankful I am to have working eardrums that can digest all of the blessings in music we have received this year. From top to bottom, the music we are getting becomes more distinct and different as the years go by. New faces like Hardrock, Midwxst, and Yeat dominated the year, but the consistent names are what really resonated with me the most. Some of the projects that we’re in my rotation this year took a couple of times to truly enjoy, others got picked up immediately. Here they are. Enjoy your week of rest and go kill 2023.
God Don’t Make Mistakes – Conway the Machine
Crest – Bladee & Ecco2k
Dedication – Slimesito
Destroy Lonely – No Stylist
Reflexions – Tony Shhnow
- Nathan Evans
Wow, 2022, what an interesting year for music. While masks covered our faces for a huge portion of the year, our ears remained naked and free to absorb all the musical frequencies our hearts desired with Spotify wrapped reminding us yet again that we all got a little a&r in us at the end of the day. In the underground world, a whole new wave emerged with eardrums bursting for kids like Hardrock, Rollin Thrax, and Southsidesilhouette stacking themselves up against seasoned hitters like Lucki, Ken Carson, and Homixide Gang. With countless miscellaneous heaters scattered throughout the mix, I consistently found myself circling back to these five projects on a regular basis this year. Whatever you haven’t heard from this list, I definitely encourage you to tap in. Especially when it comes to Iayze and Devstack’s surprise EP Final Fantasy: The Finale on SoundCloud. This one really surprised me in an incredible way. Regardless, as weird as this year was, there was so much great music that dropped. I am so pumped to see what names begin to emerge in 2023.
1. Lucki – Flawless Like Me
2. Rollin Thrax – SSX
3. Ken Carson – X
4. Iayze & Devstacks – Final Fantasy: The Finale
5. Homixide Gang – Homixide Lifestyle
- Stevenson
I hate having to cut a year filled with great records, breakout artists, and underground stars, and another year of the ladies killing everything they touch, down to a list of five. But somebody has to do it and we got a deadline to hit. The amazing FKA Twigs started off 2022 with the playful and various soundscapes of Caprisongs. Despite a failed marketing scheme by Diddy, R&B is not only alive but thriving. Raven Lanae and Kenyon Dixion gifted fans with two of the best R&B albums of the year. If it wasn’t for Little Simz dropping to remind us she’s one of the 5 best rappers out now, there would have been three R&B albums in my top 5. Cash Cobain & Chow Lee are Hornitos who know how to make fun, hip-shifting music. The women and the underground delivered like they always do. Let’s just hope the megastars pick up the slack in 2023.
Hypnos – Raven Lanae
2 Slizzy 2 Sexy – Cash Cobain & Chow Lee
Kenyon Dixon – Closer
Little Simz – No Thank You
FKA Twigs – Caprisongs
- Jaxon Buzzell
Once again MAVI finds himself pioneering a new sound with this project, with soothing drums and a much more controlled delivery compared to what we’d heard on recent releases, yet he’s still able to convey the passion in his voice that makes his music so impactful to listeners. The majority of the production comes from Dylvinci and Wulf Morpheus, with occasional appearances from Monte Booker, Ovrkast. and Jacob Rochester, making for a very cohesive sound that can only be found on a project with select collaborators such as this one.
I had the opportunity to sit in on a few recording sessions of this project, and the energy surrounding the recording, leading up to the rollout, and even shooting the videos, I could feel this was going to be one for the books. It’s refreshing to see an artist with integrity and care for their work the way MAVI and his team display. Everything from the tasteful videos to the beautiful cover art and of course sonically inspiring music, there truly was no weak point surrounding this album.
MAVI – Laughing So Hard, It Hurts
- John
As terrible of a year this has been, thankfully it was full of great music releases to ease some of the pain. We had Gunna drop DS4 just one week into January, Yeat dropped 2 alive in February, I Know Nigo released in March, and the list continues. Every other week there was a fire project to look forward to. No matter what sub-genre of hip hop you reside this year delivered something great for you to listen to. A top 5 for the year isn’t the easiest thing to do, especially with the number of fire projects that dropped, but here we go.
No Stylist – Destroy Lonely
Honestly, Nevermind – Drake
Flawless Like Me – Lucki
Stardust – Yung Lean
Red & White – Lil Uzi Vert
- Noah Soria
At the end of another hectic year, it’s always a pleasure to look back at some of the highlights of hip-hop over the past 12 months. With new music releasing every week, it’s easy to find good music for the moment; it’s a little more challenging to find a body of work with both substance and replay value. As always, quality music prevails in the end. 2022 was a special year for hip-hop. From Future’s I NEVER LIKED YOU, to Babyface Ray’s FACE, to Yeat’s Lyfë, to Kodak’s Back For Everything, rap fans of every region and sub-genre had numerous albums to turn to throughout the year. It wasn’t easy, to say the least, to choose my five favorite projects of 2022, but these are the ones I turned to the most this year.
Luv 4 Rent – Smino
Spaceships on the Blade – Larry June
HEROES & VILLAINS – Metro Boomin
RPBMH – Vince Staples
Her Loss – Drake & 21 Savage
- Anthony
2022 was quite the year; a journey bringing me some very exciting moments along with many learning experiences. These albums made up the soundtrack that got me through all of its ups and downs.
It was a Yeat winter and 2 Alivë was on repeat at the gym each day. Going back and making this list I couldn’t believe how many songs from the album made it into my playlists throughout the year. I was also extremely impressed by Joony’s Pretty in Black, where songs like “DRIFTING IN TOKYO”, “ON DAT SHIT” and “BE OTW” rang through my headphones all summer long. Another summer release — Steve Lacy’s Gemini Rights — continues to dominate my playlist all the way into the new year. This fall, Jay Safari’s Bad Decisions has been on constant repeat. The man did not miss once on the project and I’m super excited to hear more from him. Lastly, Duckwrths’s Chrome Bull was exactly what I needed to get me through the first semester of my final year of college. 2022 was a year for music and as for 2023, I want Carti and PinkPantheress to be in my Top 5 this time next year.
1. Pretty In Black – Joony
2. Bad Decisions – Jay Safari
3. Gemini Rights – Steve Lacy
4. 2 Alivë – Yeat
5. Chrome Bull – Duckwrth
Honorable Mentions: I Can’t Wait by TiaCorine, Heartpacing by Jaydes, Megatron by Babytron, and lastly, WASTELAND by Brent Faiyaz.
- Colt Cupit
Did 2020 ever really end? Sure 2022 might have seen us return to live performances and a bit of normalcy, but in some ways, it really felt like the third installment in a trilogy about self-reflection and new beginnings. Seeing old artists gain new life and new artists break the mold really left me in an interesting headspace as the year progressed and ultimately has me excited to put these past few years behind us as 2023 offers the promise of something truly extravagant.
This year was a lot of return to familiarity, with some old favorites returning to my airwaves in bigger and better fashion than ever before. Virginia heavyweights like Pusha T and D.R.A.M. delivered big with It’s Almost Dry and What Had Happened Was… respectively. One filled me with gusto and energy for the next play, and the other provided some smooth R&B jams to vibe out to in between them. JID made a big reappearance in my playlists with the follow-up to The Never Story (the album that captivated me years ago) in his newest endeavor The Forever Story. I found the sequel to be a true evolution that left me happy to see the Dreamville signee’s trajectory continuing upward. TiaCorine took 2022 as an opportunity to springboard herself into a new stratosphere with I Can’t Wait, and it’s safe to say “Freaky T” is an outright anthem. In my final spot, I have a return visitor from 2021 with Saekyi’s Angels Don’t Call Me, his first full-length effort busting at the seams with soulful cadences and gut-busting instrumentation. All in all 2022 was pretty good to me, now let’s see where this goes!
Pusha T – It’s Almost Dry
TiaCorine – I Can’t Wait
D.R.A.M. – What Had Happened Was…
JID – The Forever Story
Saekyi – Angels Don’t Call Me
Honorable Mentions: SZA’s SOS, and Kaelin Ellis’ The Funk Will Prevail.
- Adam Smith
Streaming analytics since March of 2020 have pointed at a sociological return to the familiar in listening trends and 3 years later I find my ear is still gravitating towards the latest offerings from my favorite artists to emerge in the last decade. To be fair to myself, many of those mainstays in my rotation put out a collection of statement tracks that make a strong argument against singles dominating everything culture. To be continued…
Denzel Curry – Melt My Eyez See Your Future
Vince Staples – Romona Park Broke My Heart
Smino – Luv 4 Rent
Freddie Gibbs – $oul $old $eperately
Earthgang – Ghetto Gods
HM: Kodak Black by Back for Everything, Rob Wave by Beautiful Mind, and MAVI by Laughing So Hard, it Hurts.
- Reese
The music industry is finally starting to gear up post-COVID as the main acts are all active! Despite receiving solid projects from Kendrick Lamar, The Weeknd, Lil Baby, SZA, and others, I preferred the work that came from rising acts. 070 Shake followed up her previous project, Modus Vivendi perfectly with You Can’t Kill Me. Shake’s vocals are continuously improving along with her beat selection, featuring multiple psychedelic switches per song and film score-level production throughout the entire album. Steve Lacy finally showcased his full potential on Gemini Rights. I just wish the success of “Bad Habit” and the virality of his tour didn’t take away from how great the project is as a whole. Denzel Curry, JID, and Redveil all dropped amazing albums of high quality and thought-provoking substance, which is hard to find in rap’s current landscape. That said, UTOPIA 2023!
070 Shake – You Can’t Kill Me
Steve Lacy – Gemini Rights
Denzel Curry – Melt My Eyez See Your Future
JID – The Forever Story
Redveil – Learn2swim
HM: Destroy Lonely’s No Stylist, Weiland’s Vices, and Vince Staples’ Ramona Park Broke My Heart.
- Cam Robinson
Just like that, another year is over. With that being said we have to acknowledge all of the amazing music that came with 2022. This was really the year that artists like Yeat and Destroy Lonely were able to shine. In the music industry, these labels always try to create superstars but you just have to let the market do what it’s meant to do, just like any other industry. This year was also a very interesting year in regard to rap news…. But we’ll skip that part for now and just focus on the end product. Growing up as a kid I was always looking up and down for the next big artist on SoundCloud or YouTube, as I’ve gotten older I’ve started to slow down with that and appreciate 1 or 2 artists and really focus on that sound. Regardless, I will listen to Kid Cudi, Slipknot, Ken Carson, Lil Peep all in a row and enjoy each song more than the last. Anyway, my top 5 were not easy to pick but here they are and here is to another year of creative geniuses displaying amazing artwork.
Vices – Weiland
Flawless Like Me – Lucki
Heroes & Villains – Metro Boomin
OH REALLY – Doe Boy
DSM – Van Buren Records
HM: $ouly $old $eperately by Freddie Gibbs, Sing Me a Lullaby My Sweet Temptation by $uicideboy$, B4pink by SoFaygo, and lastly, For The Better by Rich Amiri.
